You have your global warming to keep you warm...
Friday marked 30 days since Russian coastguards descended from helicopters to take the Arctic Sunrise by storm during Greenpeace's protest against the Prirazlomnaya oil rig.
The environmentalists were brought to the Arctic port city of Murmansk and have been charged with "piracy as part of an organised group" - an offence which carries a jail sentence of 10-15 years.
Throughout the week, activists have been brought one by one from the detention centre to courtrooms in central Murmansk, asking to be released on bail ahead of the pending trials.
[...]
Harris said in court that her cell is heated but when the wind blows it is freezing, as there are many gaps in the windows.
Already, the temperature is well below zero in this forbidding Arctic town of prefabricated apartment blocks and decaying industrial infrastructure; from now on it will only get colder and darker, as the days become shorter and the round-the-clock blackness of the polar winter draws closer.
h/t Maz2
The schadenfreude is delicious.
Reality. What a concept.
From the comments on the story:
"Considering they were trying to stop Russia getting energy from the seabed, a freezing cell is entirely appropriate."
That is the meanest, snarkiest thing I've seen on the Intertubes all day.
Congrats Kate, you're on a roll. ~:)
Wait a second, them Greenpeace members get a first hand experience what life is like under socialism and now they don't like it anymore?
Was their ship running on wind or solar power?
These green fascists truly believe that any and all actions they commit should be excused.
Now that the US is living off their credit cards, it's hegemony has diminished.
The party is over and greenies no longer carry any weight.
People the world over are struggling with energy poverty.
They know who's been the vocal cheerleader for huge heating bills.
Greenpeace should be hiding out from pitchforks, not scaling ocean going drill rigs to impress their leftist buddies at home.
Putin is simply giving them a lesson on the actual workings of communism that their professors forgot to mention.
Wind coming in through cracks in the windows? Whoda ever thunk it? Miss Harris does have some ersatz "caulking compound" available to her, and once it dries out, it won't be too smelly. But she probably lacks the brains and resourcefulness to make the mental connection.
Definite flight risks - no way they should get bail.
The wind is coming through cracks? Well then just set up a windmill or two and use the electricity to heat your cell! Live your message I always say.
Well at least someone is sitting, cooling their heels in a jail cell while we get these horrendous over inflated hydro bills.
That it is in Russia is the icing on the cake.
This is an excellent example of naïve, misguided fools not thinking things through (What could be the possible outcomes of my actions?. A great lesson in humility for this hubristic lot, I expect.
Her cell might be warmer if she encouraged more drilling for oil instead of being involved in "alleged" piracy. Oh, the irony of a Greenpeacer getting chilly. It's almost as ironic as those idiots in New Brunswick throwing Molotov cocktails to prevent use of gasoline.
Obviously these watermelons are lying -- we've been told that the arctic is warming at a record rate. So, based on the infallible data of the climate models, these criminals should be asking for air conditioners for their cells. Hopefully the Russians keep them there for the next 30 years or so; the last thing we need is a group of individuals coming back to N. America claiming they're totally disabled by PTSD as a result of someone smoking in their cell.
Irony ... sometimes a cold hard blade ... sometimes a jail cell.
Enjoy your education activists.
I wonder how arrogant and important they all feel now? Minding your own business is the thing activists never learn until they get a slap down. Welcome to the real world where meddling in things that are none of your business is not appreciated.
Service to Saudi Arabia has its price. It's only ten years.
She has Global Warming and her convictions to keep her warm.
Oh wait, she hasn't been convicted yet, ...but I'm sure she will be.
-"from now on it will only get colder and darker"-
Good! Cold and darkness are what these people want to inflict on the rest of us.
"But it's hard. Surely my future isn't rotting in a prison in Murmansk?! Well, I really hope it isn't."
~Harris
Me too. I hope you perish from the cold and darkness like 30,000+ Britons do every winter since you and your ilk have forced the cost of energy so high to subsidize failing alternate energy sources that tens of thousands of your fellow Britons can't afford to live through the winters.
she "hopes for change"!!!!!
Provide the dickheads with heaters that burn Alberta Crude, and give them matches and lighting instructions. We'll see how long it takes for comfort to trump principles.
Funny header and comments.
We could mail them a file concealed in a Christmas fruit cake.
Unfortunately, this will only inspire more of these people to stay in Canada to do there stunts instead of going abroad. They already know how to game the system here.
A Perfect sentiment!
But one I'm sure that these shameless fools will never grasp.
And I hope each of these characters are found guilty and get the 10+ years. It is about time that these eco "terrorists" run into a country that treats them as exactly for what they are.
Mal is entirely right about the schadenfreude. This bit is delicious.
"I feel like all my rights have been denied,"
What did you think, honeybunch? You're in Russia. You have all the rights permitted under Russian law. You don't get a British trial process, you get a Russian trial process. And do try to remember, sweetypuss, that you've been charged with piracy. No, they won't leave you in Murmansk; they still have Siberian gulags where walls aren't needed.
Of course there's no limit to self-delusion:
"...it is clear that none of the activists expected it to come to this"
Ahh, poor babies. And now there's going to be a ton of charges related to drugs. They should count their lucky stars. The penalty for piracy used to be hanging, but Russia is considerably more enlightened these days, except perhaps for Somalis. Them they simply throw overboard.
Equally amusing is the bleating from various supporters in the comments section. Seems that western utopian socialists don't seem to care very much for tough statism. They don't seem to realize that their global warming delusions would require at least as merciless state control and punishment as what they are being subject to in Mother Russia.
(Quote) Greenpeace activists were paid by western oil corporations to undermine Russia and should be "shot, or at least sent to a camp".(/unquote)
Those are wise Russians... Shoot, or into the Hump Camp
Aw. The poor things are cold. It actually is only down around zero in Murmansk right now:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/russia/murmanskaya/murmansk
Nain, Labrador is a tad warmer this coming week.
But not to worry. It will get much colder in a month or so.
Maybe now they will learn to read - Robert Conquest and Alexander Solzhenytsin, to begin with.
If I were their legal advisor, I would tell them not to insult the Russian justice system. At this point
enough has been said, by Greenpeace, that the Russian authorities could not drop the matter even
if they were initially inclined to do so. After their arrests it certainly was a time for the Greenpeacers
to show remorse and respect. However, they will be the perfect martyrs for the greater Greenpeace
organisation; the willingness of Greenpeace to sacrifice them for its own interests is telling.
Who among the incarcerated Greenpeacers will be the first to strike a deal and implicate the others?
That is a bitter cup they have yet to drink.
I salute this Putin who has the correct approach to watermelons.
In Soviet Russia global warming protests you.
Well said Oz and cgh.
I'd like to remind everyone that Russia today is a whole less socialist in many ways than Canada is. And while they are not communist any longer, they are somewhere between democracy and autocracy. No First Secretary, no Tsar, just a President for life.
Most prisons in Russia are not much better for creature comforts that they were during Tsarist times.
Hopefully these Eco-anarchists get the maximum sentence under Russian law, as this might discourage similar piracy antics. Hopefully their ship has been confiscated as a criminal asset. Trouble is, as someone above said, they will stick to trying to destroy countries that shine their shoes and give them whatever they want when arrested.
There are lots of mosquitoes east of the Urals. Kind of like Saskatchewan.
Excellent choices of reading material. Might I also suggest Orlando Figes and Richard Pipes. They should have the time to read all of them.
Russians had the balls to do what all other countries abdicated. Charge the Greenies instead of appeasing them.
All too true, John. But remorse and respect is not in the cards. Scratch a 'Peas and you find a limitless vat of self-righteousness. That more than anything else is why we love and admire the 'Peas so much.
The Canadian government should intervene by sending them a shipment of seal skin coats to keep them warm.
As Bony M said "Oh zoze Russians" Good on them, if only David Suzooker would take his tent show to the Russian fronteir, the Russians need to be tuned up David, about the dangers of a melting Arctic. Mr. Suzooker, Russia is a good place for you to start the ball roling for saving the planet, please go to Russia, if it saves just one child, what if you don't go to Russia to stop them, think of the grandchildren, please please David.
giggle
Oh, uhm, sorry.
Oh I feel so bad for those poor, cold victims...snicker
sorry....hee hee...
(having a hard time keeping a straight face...)
No problem, just put a coal stove in the cellblock and give them sealskin mukluks and a caribou parka to wear.
throw away the key..... and let them freeze in the dark....
a pox on eco-terroists
I wonder if any of the people who are planning to protest at the upcoming Olympics are paying attention to this. This might curtail a bit of man on man action near the podium , and slow down public displays of lesbian love. Really sad for the non hetro crowd.
What's the problem? Don't they think they'll get fair trials in Russia? Or is it that they're supposed to be untouchable?
Stupidity should be painful.
Things are unfolding as they should,these enviro-nuts have only been talking the talk, now they are forced to walk the walk and they don't like it. Life lessons can happen when you least expect them.